Tuesday, January 12, 2016

SOTU 2016: What They Say And What They Do

I just
finished watching the State of the Union speech. This is President Obama’s last
one, and he did a fine job of delivering it, too. Very natural, and a little
bit playful.

The most
important thing when observing politicians is to not only listen to what they
say, but also to watch what they do. Man, you’ve got to watch these guys every
minute.

Paul Ryan,
our current Speaker of the House of Representatives, was very interesting on
this point. His role was to introduce the president and then sit right behind
him, alongside the Vice President, Joe Biden. The introduction was dignified. “It
is my honor and my distinct privilege to introduce the President of the United
States, President Barack Obama.” Listening to that, it was all very respectful.

Then we
were treated to a display of what he actually did. Watching him sit there,
every muscle and joint in his body appeared so tight that I was amazed that his
blood could still reach his head. His brow was knit with tension. He sat there
smirking stiffly, never standing up or applauding. After that fine
introduction, he showed not a drop of respect or approval of anything that the president
said. He only showed some emotion when President Obama ran down the list of his
considerable accomplishments. Unemployment, cut in half; Wall Street, the DOW
is way up; the auto industry, saved and prospering; deficits, way down; health
care, “Obamacare” helping 18 million new enrollees. The emotion that Paul Ryan
showed was disgust.

The low
point for Ryan was when the president mentioned that “some of us disagree about
health care.” At that point Ryan’s smirk became a smile and he nodded his head
slightly. Zero respect.

“Listen to
what they say, but watch what they do.” It’s good advice for anyone observing
politics anywhere in the world. I like President Obama, I think that he’s done
a good job. Listening to him always puts him on my good side. He bears some
watching too, though. He has accomplished good things, no doubt, but he is,
after all, a Neo-Liberal like most of them at this point, in both parties. He’s
a globalist, and that program has only contributed to the massive insecurities
felt by most working people these days. So there’s that.

Ryan and
his ilk hate President Obama for many reasons, but mostly because he does more
than they would do to mitigate the effects of the global, Neo-Liberal agenda on
working people. He appears, at least in some small degree, to care about people’s
insecurities, job insecurity, income insecurity, retirement insecurity, health
insecurity. And President Obama does much less than the Republicans would wish
to do to make all of that much worse. They would do much more to enhance the
prosperity of big business, and the banks, and the very, very rich.

Presidential
elections make me dyspeptic in the extreme, and this year’s election is no
different. We should all listen very closely to what they all say, but we must
also study very carefully what they have done, and read between the lines of
what they are saying to get elected, and bear in mind to whom they are speaking
when they say it. Turn up your bullshit detectors, people! And then vote your
conscience. Don’t vote for someone that you were tricked into liking. Don’t
take positions just because you think that they will get you “likes” on your
favorite website.

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About Me

Mr. C is: a reformed lawyer; a religious atheist; a useful "Handy Man;" an amateur social scientist; a beloved teacher; a well liked husband and father; Ambassador Emeritus from, and to, Planet X; a freelance professor; taxi driver to the stars (Joe DiMaggio and Ronald McDonald, both out of uniform); an excellent fire fighter; an enthusiastic but untalented musician; an experienced counselor; a top-notch disk jockey; an all around get-along-guy; a cunning linguist; a would-be lifestyle victim; a Masonic wannabe; a frequent reader; Professor Irwin Corey's Ph.D. adviser; an accomplished driver and motorcyclist; a famous rockologist; a reliable but indifferent bullshit detective; a poor speller; a proud United States Navy veteran (honorably discharged, barely); the Ayatollah of Ass-o-Hola; a drug legend; a Returned Peace Corps volunteer (Thailand); a generally charming man; nationally and internationally known from coast to coast; a legend in his own mind; a cultural-anthropological critic-at-large; an avenging angel who coolly bides his time; Soul Brother number 37; and a friend to the poor.